24 hours in Battersea

The temperature was zero, but that didn't deter us as we hopped on our Bromptons and cycled to Bicester North station for the train to London.

Then we were back on the bikes and across London, through Hyde Park in brilliant sunshine, and on to our hotel in Battersea.

After a quick coffee to warm up we walked down to the Thames just as the sun was starting to set..

Turning to the right we saw the amazingly refurbished Battersea power station.

We had a quick wander around the inside and, met up with Susan and Paul who also had 24 hours in Battersea. Their itinerary was quite different to ours, but had a couple of similarities.

Then we went on to the tube for a journey to theatre land. We had tickets for the show Stranger Things, and Darren had watched all three series of the show on the TV.

I unfortunately had not, and Paul had just warned me that it might not be my cup of tea.He did give me some helpful hints to try to understand the show, and luckily did not warn me how long it would last.

By the end of the show it was obvious that 99% of the audience were fans of the TV show and had a lovely evening.  I gave it my best shot but it was very long, very loud and almost totally bamboozling, even taking into account Paul's help.

Saturday morning and off to the Battersea parkrun. Darren jogged there while I walked separately, arriving at the park nice and early. Hundreds of runners were warming up and I asked one of them where the start was.

She told me that she was meeting a friend at the bandstand and jogged off so I started to follow her, but then lost her. To cut a long story short, it turns out that there was two events at the park this morning, the parkrun and a half marathon. Of course I went to the wrong one, and by the time I found the parkrun I was right at the back and only just made the start.

Everyone else met up before the start, but at least I found them after the finish.

Then it was a brisk walk back to the hotel, a speedy cycle back to the station and the train home.

Up the tower

We are in Nottingham and Darren has managed to tame what is potentially the tallest palm tree in the midlands!

I want out shopping while he set up the tower to it's highest possible setting, climbed up with his electric saw and got it done.

Then I helped move the tower next to the house, he replaced the guttering and I painted the soffits (I think that's what they are called.)

The neighbours saw me up the tower and made a huge fuss, saying how amazing I was, and when I pointed out that Darren had done loads more than me, and at a lot higher height, they were completely unimpressed.

In very 1970s style, they said that it was expected of a man, but not a lady. 

It all got a bit embarrassing, but they all think that I am wonder woman, and I didn't really complain too much.

Huaca Pucllana

Our last day in Lima and we walked from our hotel to the Kennedy Park, which is a lovely green oasis amongst the busy streets. However, it is probably better known for it's cat accommodation and the many friendly cats that live there.

If I was a cat I would definitely want to live in one of these luxury houses.

There was also a nice statue of a bull which is supposed to be a symbol of fertility, but I think that I have left that a bit late.

Then on to the Huaca Pucllana which is a huge pyramid shaped temple site a couple of kilometres from the coast.

It was built about 1,600 years ago but was abandoned after 500 years and then gradually covered with sand and soil and forgotten.

In the 1970s it was just thought of as a large hill and was used as a cyclo-cross venue, but then in 1981 plans were made for a road through the middle of it.

Totally unexpectedly when building work began they uncovered the site, and in the 43 years since archeologists have discovered an amazing place.

These aren't actors but are life sized models of workmen from that time. The pyramid is made of millions of adobe bricks and here the workers are mixing mud, straw, seashells and water to make bricks by hand that are left to dry.

The bricks are then stacked vertically with gaps between them and mud on top so that it looks like a library.

This method of building is fantastic as we are in an active earthquake area, and the vertical bricks and gaps between them cushion the blow of any movement.

I noticed this brick on one corner that hand a 1,600 year old handprint on it.

We carried on walking and headed up to the top of the pyramid. It is about 14 metres high nowadays, but originally they think it was about twice that height and would have had views to the sea.

Nowadays large buildings mean that the sea is hidden, but apparently the whole purpose of the temple was to worship the sea. It was built set back from the ocean because after an earthquake there is often a tsunami, and this location would be high enough to avoid being affected.

Very sadly the original builders seem to have practiced human sacrifices and the skeletons of many girls between the ages of 16 and 25 have been found beneath a courtyard.

Finally, it appears that the original builders of the pyramid disappeared and in about the year 900 another tribe used the site for their worship.

This is a reconstruction of a grave of a noble person. Their bodies were curled up and covered with materials until they resemble a barrel shape with a false head on the top to show that they are important.

There are lots of these sites on the pyramid and in all of them is also the body of a small child and usually two almost new born babies wrapped up in a bundle.

How very sad and strange, and tribe too left the site, probably because they were fleeing from the Incas.

Wow, that's a lot of facts for today. Later tonight we catch a flight to Madrid and then on to Heathrow before arriving back home.

Day in Lima

Great start to the day with a quick jog along the seafront. I had hoped that after a week living at high altitude that I would suddenly be super fit and set a few personal best times.

Alas no, I struggled along behind Darren breathing deeply but getting nowhere fast. I needed the frequent stops for photos, and all thoughts of speed records gone forever.

Great views of the coast on a quiet Sunday morning, and we came across a lovely Chinese garden along the way.

Back at the hotel to recover and then out for a bus tour of the city. The traffic is terrible and the drivers crazy, with horns blaring and drivers squeezing into impossible gaps.

The main city square is impressive and houses the bishop, the president and the mayor of Lima. Peru gained it's independence after the Spanish left in 1821 and the Peruvians started building in any style except Spanish, so there are some lovely French style mansions, amongst others.

This is the presidential palace, with Mickey and Minnie mouse walking past it. We watched the changing of the palace guard from a distance and it was nothing like in London where crowds gather to watch.

No one seemed interested so it was just us and a few other tourists and I don't think that Mickey or Minnie even gave it a second glance.

Onwards to a huge convent which still houses about 40 monks. In Peru monks live in convents and nuns in monasteries. Our guide didn't say why, just that they do. However, it was a very impressive place.

I won't say that it was peaceful as over the courtyard wall a huge outdoor party was taking place, and we could hear the loud music and cheers from the crowds.

Our final stop was an amazing place called the Larco Museum. 

We haven't been to one yet, but Peru has many pyramids that are around 1,400 years old and built of adobe. Lima is the second driest capital city in the world after Cairo and gets hardly any rainfall.

This point is crucial because adobe bricks are basically made of mud and they would have disintegrated in a wetter climate. 

The old royal families of Peru were buried at the top of the pyramids, along with many treasures that were discovered in the early 1900s by Mr Larco.

Personally I think that the nose decoration is a bit over the top.

In total he found over 48,000 artifacts and they are all stacked up on shelves in the museum. That sounds very worrying to me as on average they have a huge earthquake every 100 years, so I am imagining a massive pile of broken pots, but I guess they know what they are doing.

Star of the show is a massive solid gold headdress, giant earrings and necklace, and breast plate weighing over two kilos.

Cusco to Lima

Our last morning in Cusco, and this is our view from the hotel restaurant.

There are very few high rise buildings in Cusco because it is an earthquake zone, so we got a brilliant 360 degree view.

After a leisurely breakfast we got a flight to Lima which is back at sea level.

We are staying in Miraflores, which is a very nice seaside area of Lima.

We only managed one short walk in the afternoon and that was to see the Paddington statue on the seafront.

There are cliffs all of the way along the seafront and all of the buildings are set back, so we didn't actually go down to the water, but just looked at it from the distance.

Then we went out for a final dinner with our tour group. I will only remember all of their names for a few days, but we really enjoyed the company of,  and laughs with Dante, Aaron, Warren, Betty, Diana, Jonathan, Sandra, Patrick, Lisa, James, Sandy and Charlie.

Cusco

Our hotel is in the city of Cusco, and today we walked to the historical centre.

There was a lot lovely churches and open squares with markets and lots of trees. Today was a public holiday called All Saints Day of the Living, so there was lots of local people about and some unusual sights.

This display was a mystery to us, but there was lots of people watching the preparations, but we didn't wait to see what happened to the giant ladies head.

Just round the corner was a market with all of the stalls on one side selling cakes and bread, and every stall on the other side selling roasted pigs heads and lots of other bits of roast pork. Darren was keen to try something but we didn't want to accidentally buy a whole head and then not know what to do with it.

Instead we started walking uphill and passed some great murals and flower filled streets.

Up and up we went to the highest possible point where a Christ the Redeemer statue was located.

He was quite small, but the views were amazing and I think that at last I am getting acclimatised to the altitude.

Slightly late however, as tomorrow morning we get a flight back to Lima which is on the coast.